The Classic Learning Test (CLT) is a standardized test administered by Classic Learning Initiatives. Designed as an alternative to other standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT,[better source needed] the test assesses reading, grammar, writing, and mathematics. One of the distinctive elements of the CLT is its use of classic literature[better source needed] for the majority of reading passages on the exam.

The test can be taken online or in-school and takes approximately two hours to complete. Scores are issued within ten days and are calculated out of 120.

Content

As of September 2023, the CLT contained sections on verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and grammar and writing, as well as an optional essay segment. The test has a noticeable emphasis on Christian thought and many of its textual excerpts come from works by Christian figures such as Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Paul II, Jonathan Edwards, Teresa of Ávila, Augustine of Hippo, Thomas à Kempis, and C. S. Lewis, though religiously critical individuals such as Mark Twain, Charles Darwin, and Karl Marx also feature in the test's author bank. Other writers excerpted in the test include Jorge Luis Borges, Aristotle, Plato, Cicero, William Shakespeare, Anna Julia Cooper, Toni Morrison, and Ida B. Wells.

Schools accepting CLT scores

Approximately 325 colleges and universities in both the United States and abroad accept the CLT for various purposes related to admissions and course placement. These schools tend to be private, liberal arts or faith-based colleges. Many are evangelical and Catholic schools.

In September 2023, Florida's Board of Governors voted to approve the CLT as an accepted admissions test at all public universities in the state.

Beginning with the 2027 admissions cycle, U.S. service academies will accept CLT scores.

A list of test-optional colleges that do not require any standardized test for admission, but allow the option to send in a CLT score include: